I smiled. “Something like that, yes.”
“Just be careful, Wila. I get a dark vibe from Seb, flashes of crimson rage, like when I walked out of Amber’s room and he had you pinned to the wall. I could sense the contradiction. He loves you and yet he hates you, all at the same time.”
“No news flash there. Believe me, I know. And I can’t blame him, not after what he went through. He got locked away, and I got to be free, to be labelled the potential savior of a race while he was simply an inconvenience they had to keep alive in order to keep me alive. I can’t blame him for being angry or for hating me.”
“It’s Liana he needs to hate.”
“Oh, believe me, he hates her too. And he doesn’t want to hate me, but there’s a dark part of him that’s not completely within his control.”
“And that’s the part that I’m worried about.” Noir tucked a tendril of my hair behind my ear. “I’ll feel better once you’re mated, once you have Azren back. The guys will act as a buffer.” His lips were smiling, but his eyes were sad.
“And what about you?” Shit, probably shouldn’t have asked that, shouldn’t have gone there.
“You know how I feel, Wila.” He pinched my chin gently, and then brushed the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip. “I’ll be there in any capacity I can, except the one I’d most like to be in.”
My mouth parted instinctively, and his robin-blue eyes darkened. “Don’t look at me like that. Even my willpower has a breaking point.”
“And you don’t like to start things you can’t finish?”
“Exactly.” This time his eyes lit up with amusement.
The moment was interrupted by a man walking out of the lounge to my left. His brown hair was slicked back, and he was sporting a black leather dustkicker very similar to mine. He did a smooth spin.
“What do you think?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
I pulled back from Noir, ready to go ninja on the stranger. “Who the fuck are—”
“Wila, it’s Quinn.” Noir chuckled. “Drop the karate chop stance and look again.”
The spell. Of course. The facade melted, and Quinn grinned back at me. “I can see him. Shit, did I mess up the spell?”
“No,” Noir said. “Once you know who he is, the spell won’t work on you. You know it’s Quinn, so you can now see him, but any bystander, any member of The Collective that isn’t aware of who he really is will see the glamour.”
“And,” Quinn added, “it means I can get the fuck out of this house and actually do something of use.”
“Something other than eating me out of popcorn?” I gave him a crooked grin.
He swayed back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Heck, I’ll even go buy the popcorn.” He paused. “But you’d have to give me some money, because I don’t have any.” His gaze was introspective, and then he shook his head. “But that’s beside the point. The point is, I’m coming with you.”
“Coming with me? Where am I going?”
“To get Valance,” Noir said. “I called Lex on the way back here, earlier, before Taylem told me to meet you at The Gables. Valance should be ready to be picked up now. Lex removed the lead cuff on Valance’s wrist, but he still can’t shift or fragment.”
Relief was a warm pressure in my throat. “And the Institute? Did you get a meeting?”
He grinned at me with both dimples. “I sure did. But we can discuss that once we’ve picked up Valance.”
“Can you fragment the four of us?” Quinn asked. “’Cause there’ll be four on the journey back.”
Noir shook his head. “No, it would be too much, which is why I picked up a transponder. It’s set to bring us back here.”
I fluttered my lashes at him. “Oh, Mr. Noir, you do think of everything.”
He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. The contact of his taut body spiked my pulse, and the aroma of his cologne tightened my core. Breathe, Wila.
Quinn held up his hands. “No hugs for me, mate. How about we shake on it.”
Noir took his hand, and then we were fragmenting.
Chapter 10
We materialized in Lex’s study to find it empty.
“Look at the size of that desk,” Quinn said. “Someone’s overcompensating.”
“This way.” Noir led us through a side door.
A short flight of steps opened up onto another floor which was basically a living area—an open plan lounge and kitchen with several doors leading off it. Lex looked up from the sizzling fry pan he was administering to—onion and garlic and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on. His hair was damp and slicked back, and he was wearing a cream T-shirt and dark blue jeans. Inky tattoos peeked out from his shirt, climbing his neck like loving ivy.
“An entourage? Valance will be tickled.” His attention fell to Quinn. “And who do we have here?” He canted his head. “Nice glamour work, Noir.”
Noir made a sound of exasperation. “Really? You can see through that?”
Lex shrugged. “Nice to meet you, mysterious man in a strangely feminine dustkicker.”
“Hey.” Quinn looked down at his coat with a frown. “This is totally masculine.”
Lex smiled thinly and focused on me. “He’s all ready for you.”
The door to our left opened, and Valance walked out. My breath caught, and my scalemate’s electric blue eyes locked onto me unblinkingly, and then he held out his arms. I was across the room and in his embrace in a blink. His familiar scent of almonds soothed my nerves, and his sturdy arms grounded me. He was okay, really okay.
He made a small sound of protest. “Um, Wila, not so tight.”
Shit. I eased up on the death grip and pulled back to scan his face—pale and pinched with pain. “Fuck. I’m sorry.”
Valance shook his head. “I’ll be fine. The lead from the cuff is in my bloodstream, slowing the healing down, but now that the cuff’s off, my body will purge the toxin over the next day or so, and then I’ll be as good as new.”
I brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. “I missed you.”
His dragon pupils dilated. “I missed you too.”
And I couldn’t leave him in pain for a minute longer than necessary. Barnaby would surely have something to speed up the detox. “I know a guy that may have something to cleanse your system.” I stroked his bicep. “Let’s get you home, and then I’ll pop over and see him.”
“Home?” He was looking at me searchingly.
I pushed up on my tiptoes and pressed a firm kiss to his lips. “Yeah, babe, home. And I promise you, it’s much better than a cave.”
“And if we’re lucky, Gilbert may even rustle up some pancakes,” Quinn said eagerly.
Valance glanced over my head at Quinn. “And you are?”
“Oh, right.” Quinn shrugged off the jacket to drop the glamour and then held out his hand to Valance. “The name’s Quinn. Wila broke me out of a maximum security facility and offered to put me up for a while.”
Valance shook his hand. “Ah, yes. Wila told me about you when we were trapped in the Everdark. Nice to finally meet you. And that dustkicker totally kicks ass.”
Quinn grinned. “Right?” He shot Lex a smug smile.
Lex sighed wearily. “Are we done with the reunion and introductions now?”
His tone of voice rankled, imperious and slightly mocking. I opened my mouth to tell him where to shove his attitude, but Noir beat me to it.
“I’d watch your tone if I were you, Lex,” my Arcana buddy said. And yeah, his imperious tone beat the crap out of Lex’s.
Lex’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t bite back; instead, he tucked in his chin and plastered a polite smile on his neatly groomed goateed face.
“I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I’d just like to know what you plan to do about Elora?” Lex asked.
I kept my gaze on Valance’s face when addressing Lex. “I’m grateful for you taking care of Valance, but that’s as far as our relationship goes. I don’t
owe you shit.”
“No, you don’t,” he replied, smooth as silk. “But Elora’s actions will affect us all. I’d like to help.”
He sounded sincere enough, but damn if I was going to just take that at face value. I turned to look at him. “Help me or Liana?”
He put his spatula down and braced himself against the counter. “You. Liana will come around.”
“Will she?”
He smirked. “She hardly has a choice since you were her ace in the hole. Her plan doesn’t work without a powerful figurehead—a Shedim to rival the Draconi queen. She needs you at the helm of her army to encourage them into going up against the Draconi.”
He had a point, but that didn’t mean I had to trust him. “And you were there when I told her I’m not going to war. We can bring Elora down without mass murder. All we need is Azren, and then we can find the key and shatter the mind spell.”
He nodded slowly. “I agree. If war can be avoided, then so be it. I’ve stood by Liana and her people, but I wasn’t aware of her plan to annihilate the Draconi. I knew she wanted to overthrow Elora, and yes, I was all for that, but I can’t condone the extermination of a whole race.”
What did he want? A medal? “Good to know. I’ll let you know if I need your assistance.”
Lex looked to Noir. “I suppose you’ve neglected to tell her who I am?”
Noir snorted. “After you made me swear not to. No. I haven’t.”
I glanced from Noir to Lex. “What’s going on?”
“Remember the VIP access I was going to give you several weeks ago?” Lex asked.
“Yeah, the one you retracted.”
“It’s not just VIP status, it’s a secret society. We call ourselves the Veritas, and we advocate for the truth. Your friend Noir is one of us.”
Noir smiled thinly. “I was, until you decided to send Wila on a death mission into a secure facility.”
Lex looked up at the ceiling. “Look, I did what had to be done at the time. I seized an opportunity to possibly free the Others and test Wila at the same time. She was a candidate for Veritas, she is Liana’s daughter, and if anyone could pull it off, it would have been her.”
I was done with his excuses. “I don’t give a shit about your secret society.”
My tone was cool, distant. But heck, the guy had played a huge part in my life being a lie. He was going to have to work hard to earn my trust.
Speaking of lies. “What can you tell me about Gilbert?”
“Gilbert?” He looked confused.
“The Draconi ghost that haunts my house. The house you bought for me.”
“The house I bought for you on Liana’s instructions,” he stated. “I have no idea who this Gilbert is. I wasn’t aware you had a ghost problem.”
“Gilbert isn’t a problem.”
My bullshit detector hadn’t gone off, not a peep. He was either an expert liar or he was telling the truth. I glanced up at Valance to see what he thought, but he was staring at me in surprise.
Valance had gone very still and tense beside me, but he’d remained silent listening to our back and forth conversation, and now when he spoke his tone was controlled but demanding. “It looks like a lot happened while I was out of commission.”
I winced. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I need to fill you in.”
“I got the part where Gilbert turned out to be Draconi, but who’s Liana?”
I looked to Lex, who merely shrugged. “I’ll go get Liana.”
He’d obviously decided to leave the recap to me. “Gilbert is Draconi, although he doesn’t know it yet. I want to find out exactly who he is before I tell him anything. Liana’s the Shedim queen, the leader of the rogue Shedim, and she also happens to be my mother.” My tone was flat.
“Oh.”
“And my father was King Ivan.”
“Oh.” Valance’s eyes glowed softly, the only indication that the revelations had an effect. Man, he was cool as a cucumber. “Well, that explains ... a lot.”
He lowered himself onto the nearest sofa and held his hand out to me. Our fingers laced, and my skin prickled as golden scales rose to life up my arm. He tugged me into his lap, and then wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head.
Noir looked away, hands in pockets, seemingly unconcerned by our display of affection, but I’d known him long enough to pick up on the subtle tightening around his mouth and the stiff set of his shoulders. A pang of guilt and sorrow shot through me, because despite how we felt about each other, this, what Valance and I had, what Tay and I had, and what Azren and I had, would never be in the cards for Noir and me. His world was skyscrapers and electric magic bound by steel rules and lore. His name, his blood was a bond that kept him by my side, but always apart, and thank goodness he’d had the strength of will to maintain a distance between us, because my gut told me that if we ever crossed that line, if I ever lost myself in him, then stepping back would tear my heart in two.
Valance’s arms tightened around me. “I assume from your tone and the awkward tension that mother dearest wasn’t exactly what you were hoping for?”
“You assume correctly.”
Valance sighed. “I’m sorry, Wila. But at least I can say with confidence that I can empathize.”
“Don’t be. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care.”
And I almost believed my words, but then the door opened and Liana came gliding in, trailed by another younger Shedim who stood with her head bowed. Liana was draped in black and crimson, her hair pulled back into a high knot on top of her head, and her lips were painted ruby red. Her top was a corset affair with a deep V neck in which there nestled an emerald pendant that set off her eyes. She looked ready for battle. A shiver skated over my skin and a door creaked open in the back of my mind. Seb? Was he watching? Liana’s glamour was heavy today, softer, warmer, and her eyes seemed kinder. Clever. She was ready to try a different approach, trying to woo me by using the maternal card, except actions spoke louder than ... glamour.
The pressure in my mind intensified and tendrils of heat seeped into my veins, pooling in my solar plexus and settling into a gentle simmer. Oh, man. Yeah, this was definitely Seb, and he was pissed.
“Wila, my child. I’m so glad you came back.” Liana’s tone was warm honey and totally in contrast to her go-get-em outfit. “So glad you wanted to see me again. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. I was so stunned by your arrival the other day that I didn’t get to tell you how much I missed you. How awful it was giving you up to the cruel world.”
Behind her, Lex stood in the doorway, an amused smile flirting with his lips.
Anger pricked at my skin, but I bit the insides of my cheeks to maintain a neutral expression.
Liana’s gaze flicked to Valance, and her amiable demeanor slipped a fraction. She caught it quickly and shifted her attention back to me. “Maybe we could talk somewhere more private?”
Seb’s anger was like a furnace heating the blood in my veins, making it hard to think straight. “You can say what you have to say in front of my scalemate.”
Her brows shot up, and she glanced over her shoulder at Lex. So, he’d kept his mouth shut about that one, and yeah, now she was thrown.
The struggle on her face was real, twitch, tighten, swallow, and then the maternal facade shattered and her lip curled. “You can’t help who your scalemate is, but you don’t have to nurture the bond. If you knew what they’d put our people through, if you could see what we’d had to endure, you wouldn’t be sitting on a Draconi’s lap looking so smug.”
“I think you’re forgetting she’s part Draconi,” Valance drawled, making circles on my arm with his fingertips. The motion tempered Seb’s rage, pushing it back a little and clearing my mind.
“I wasn’t speaking to you,” Liana snapped. “I was speaking to my daughter.”
Oh, no she didn’t. “Sorry? What did you say?” I let out a bark of laughter. “Shit, for a moment I thought you called me your daughter?”
“
Wila, please—”
“But that can’t be right, because if I recall correctly, and I usually do, I made it clear the last time we spoke that I wasn’t your daughter.” The anger was back, a steady pressure at the base of my throat. “You gave up that right when you shoved me in an orphanage, although, in retrospect, you did me a favor.”
Her eyes flashed, and her glamour began to slide. The lines of her face sharpened, and this time, when she spoke, her razor teeth were clearly visible. “You were born from my womb to liberate the Shedim. I kept you alive. Your Draconi genes are merely an advantage in a fight for your Shedim brethren. That is all. It’s your duty to lead the Shedim into war.”
“Are you deaf or merely stupid? There won’t be a fucking war.”
“There is no other option but war. It’s your duty to lead your people against Elora, to rip the throne from her talons.”
“Or, here’s an idea, we save Azren and use the map on his chest to get the key and reverse whatever enchantment Elora put on everyone. No need for war. The truth will set us free and all that.”
“Free? You think we’ll ever be free while the Draconi exist? If Elora falls, someone else will step up to take her place. There will always be a tyrant treading on the little people.”
“Yeah? And you want that tyrant to be you. Not happening.” My body was vibrating with leashed anger, and Valance’s firm grip around my waist and his sure heartbeat were the only things keeping me from succumbing to Seb’s need to lash out at the bitch. “But I agree with you on one point. I was born to lead my people, both Shedim and Draconi. I was born to liberate them from lies and to lead them into a future of peace, equality, and prosperity, because you know what? I’m a living example of what we can become if we embrace each other.” I gave her a cocky grin. “The best of both worlds in a kick-ass package.” Seb bristled in warning, steering me back to the point. I blew out a breath, dropping out of cocky mode. “In a hundred years’ time, there will be no delineation between the races, there will be only an us.”
Liana’s companion, who’d been standing silently, head bowed, was now looking right at me with a speculative gleam in her eye. She was taking this in, mulling it over. Good. Good there was another pair of ears in the room, one who may be able to take my words back to the rest of the rogue Shedim because there was no way Liana was going to do that. Hopefully my words, my ideals, would penetrate through the thick layer of indoctrination Liana had been feeding them all these years.
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